1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a protective housing for a fishing pole, and more specifically to a protective housing for preventing fishing hooks or lures attached to the fishing pole from becoming entangled with other fishing poles and from being snagged on clothing or upholstery, the protective housing including a storage compartment for allowing the storage of fishing tackle within the protective housing.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Typically, when transporting fishing poles, the fishing hook or hooked lure that is attached to the fishing line of the pole is hooked onto one of the eyelets of the fishing pole and the slack is taken out of the fishing line in order to secure the hook to the eyelet. This allows the fishing pole to be transported without having the hook swinging freely from the end of the fishing pole. However, even though, in this configuration, the hook is prevented from freely swinging from the end of the fishing pole, it is still exposed and can become entangled in adjacent fishing pole lines, snagged on clothing or upholstery and cause injuries to nearby people.
There are several devices which are used to cover the hook to prevent damage or injury which can be caused by an exposed fishing hook. U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,502 to Reynolds discloses a case in which a fishing lure is placed inside the case, the pole is secured to the case and the case is closed to enclose the lure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,604 to Starke discloses a fishing rod tip guard which is placed over the tip of a fishing pole to protect the tip and to cover the hook attached to the line of the fishing pole. Likewise, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,441,274; 4,452,003; 4,920,683; 5,235,775 and 5,588,245 disclose various fishing pole cases for covering a hook which is attached to the fishing pole.
While the above inventions provide cases for enclosing fishing hooks during transport of the fishing poles, they do not provide adequate storage within the cases for items such as extra hooks, lures, line weights and the like. While, in the prior art cases, these items may be placed within the case before it is closed, the items are loose within the case and can both fall out of the case when it is opened and become entangled with the hooks and line of the fishing pole to which the case is attached.
What is needed is a protective housing for a fishing pole which is capable of enclosing a hook which is attached to the line of the fishing pole while providing a secure storage compartment separate from the compartment which houses the hook and line attached to the fishing pole.